Dalai Lama Hopes to Visit Taiwan Again

June 10, 2008

China News Agency - CNA (Taiwan)
June 9, 2008

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama
would very much like to visit Taiwan again if given the opportunity,
the Taipei-based Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation (TTEF) said yesterday.

The Dalai Lama met and talked Saturday with members of a delegation
from the foundation in Dharamsala, northern India, where the Tibetan
government-in-exile has been based since 1959, TTEF said in a news
release. During the visit, the Dalai Lama also reiterated to Liu
Shih-fang, a TTEF board member and Own Su jei, TTEF deputy general
secretary, his stance on supporting the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
and not opposing China, according to the TTEF statement.

The Dalai Lama said to Liu and Own that during his last visit to
Taiwan in 2001, he saw many followers of Tibetan Buddhism and many of
his supporters in Taiwan, which he said made a very deep impression on him.

He praised Taiwan for having preserved the best essence of
traditional Chinese culture.

The revered Tibetan spiritual leader also apologized to the Taiwanese
people that he could not have visited Taiwan sooner.

"I've always thought about revisiting Taiwan over the past seven
years, but there were always things coming up at the last minute," he said.

Meanwhile, he also told his visitors that he did not play a role in
the uprising in Lhasa in March this year during which numerous
Tibetans were killed by Chinese troops and police following riots in
which Han Chinese were targeted by Tibetan protesters.

"All communication data to and from Dharamsala will prove that I'm
clean," the Dalai Lama said, according to the statement.